Anything Goes : How useful is AI? by Kevin Hager

It's as useful as we make it out to be - the human factor is what counts the most. It only puts out what we put in.

How so?

I’ve use AI a lot. It’s okay. I use it for brainstorming, bouncing ideas off of, and helping tweak a dialogue line or two when needed. I write the structures, the scenes, and what is going on. AI helps tweak and tighten it a little. A lot of times, it tries to convince me to say something else, but my wording or joke hits harder and more natural. It’s great as a resource, but don’t rely on it for everything.

Do you use for Script Writing? Like I said, are we depending on it too much?

AI is a tool. Kinda like a rock, a hammer, or a Paslode nail gun - they all drive nails, just with differing amounts of assistance from momentum or compressed air.

And as the software engineers are so fond of saying: "Garbage in = garbage out." So, it really comes down to how you use it; what you feed it.

Large language models and generative AI are massively distributed, probability engines. Incredibly useful in freeing the meat sack mind from tedious logic and probability based comparison and research-like tasks. That they can mimic (or better yet: reflect) human behaviour, humour and emotion back at the user while identifying things like structure and intent in how we use language is not only thrilling (and often hilarious) but also a dangerous line content creators need to be aware of.

As a producer: a human looking out for sparks of creativity and stories to tell, I personally run from anything handed to me that even hints at a whiff of generative AI.

Seems unfair, right?

But not really. Humans (and some cats) are the consumers of stories/movies with an emotional payload. AI doesn't care, it doesn't feel, "it's not human" - to quote a fave Clooney flick I've watched. It is simply scraping from the top of the bellcurve. AKA ordinary, or normal. And normal and ordinary don't sell. It's the extremes of the bellcurve we humans look for to make us feel, to take us away from the boring and ordinary.

And then, there's all that horrible legal crap about IP to deal with, but believe me, that boring legal stuff is the least of the problem. Just to say it again, "It's the ordinary."

So use AI like you would a BFG Paslode framing nailer to blast 4 inch galvanized spikes into hemlock without batting an eye, but don't count on it to build the house. And if you want to submit what you have come up with using AI, make sure every single step you take with AI is documented. A producer will want to see that, even the chats, responses and prompts you used when-and-where in your script - if your script gets past the reader, and believe me, getting it past the reader takes not-being-ordinary.

AI is helpful if you can ask a question about a story you want to envision and come to life. They can help you become a confident human being when they show you the image or story or even script you want to see or read. Of course, you'll have give them a lot of details when they have errors but overall they will help you. It change my path completely and about to become this close at making it. You can too.

I think AI is useful in the right hands.

Not for content generation.

Sometimes when I’m stuck on what to post or share online, I look for simple creative tools that give me fresh ideas. The other day I was browsing around and found https://cabina.ai/tools/quote-generator, and it ended up being quite fun to play with. I didn’t use it for anything serious, just a few quotes to spark inspiration. I like things that don’t take forever to figure out, and this kind of tool fits that perfectly when I just need a quick creative boost.